Asset Management – Block Components

Block Components record the major shared building elements associated with an individual housing block. Examples include communal roofs, door-entry systems, lifts and shared floor coverings.

These components are used by the Asset Management module to forecast future replacement costs and produce Stock Condition reports.

To access Block Components, open the required Housing Group and select the Blocks tab. Select the required Block, click Asset Management and then select Block Components.

Before You Begin

Important: Before Block Components can be configured, the Block’s Year Built must be recorded.

The Year Built forms the basis of Stock Condition forecasting whenever a component does not have an Override First Replacement Year or Last Replaced Year specified.

If the Year Built has not been entered, the Block’s Asset Management area displays a warning and its Components cannot be configured or forecast.

To add a missing Year Built, open the Block’s Options menu and select Edit Block.

Updating Block Components

When a Block has not yet been configured, the Block Components page displays an empty state. Click the Update link to begin defining the Block’s components.

Once Block Components have been configured, click the Update button to modify the existing information.

Unlike Property Asset Management, Asset Management Profiles are not applied to Blocks. Block Components are selected and configured directly for each Block.

Configuring Block Components

The Block Components page displays all available Block Component Types.

For each component, you can specify whether it is present within the Block and, where appropriate, record additional information that will improve the accuracy of long-term forecasting.

After making the required selections and changes, click Save Components.

Forecasting Replacement Costs

Affinity determines future replacement dates using the following information, in order of priority:

1. Override First Replacement Year, if specified.
2. Last Replaced Year together with the component’s Life Cycle.
3. The Block’s Year Built together with the component’s Life Cycle.

If an Adjusted Life Cycle has been entered, it is used instead of the Standard Life Cycle when calculating future replacement dates.

Where the calculated replacement date is in the past, Affinity advances it by the applicable Life Cycle until it reaches the next future replacement year.

Asset Management Forecast End Date

When your responsibility for a block is expected to end, for example when a lease expires, enter an optional Asset Management Forecast End Date beneath the block’s Asset Management subtab navigation and click Save. Leave it blank for the full forecast. Clear the date and save to restore the full forecast. You need permission to update Housing Group Asset Management to change it; users with read-only access can view the saved date.

The date limits costs recorded against this block. It does not delete or archive the block, remove its components or inspection records, or change the end dates of its individual properties. Property and block forecasts have independent end dates.

• Component replacements and checks forecast only by year include the selected calendar year; later years are excluded.
• Where a recorded inspection supplies a compliance due date, occurrences due on or before the end date are included. Later due dates are excluded, even within the same calendar year.

The Components list identifies a next replacement beyond the cutoff with Due after the Asset Management Forecast End Date. The component remains recorded, but replacements after the end year do not contribute to forecast costs or upcoming-work reports. The same end date also applies to the block’s compliance forecast.

For totals, exports and the 40-year annual-average calculation, see Block Stock Condition Costs.

Good Practice

Only select components that are shared by the Block as a whole. Components belonging to an individual dwelling should be recorded as Property Components against that property.

Recording accurate replacement information for major shared elements such as roofs, lifts and door-entry systems will significantly improve the accuracy of long-term expenditure forecasts.

Where a component has already been replaced, record the Last Replaced Year rather than changing the Block’s Year Built. This provides a more realistic forecast while preserving the historical information about the Block.